The Innkeeper



Having understood the situation, Lex suppressed his curiosity and concern about the tower and began to absorb information about his surroundings. A quick scan showed that… everyone in the room was in the Golden core realm, though their cores seemed weak and frail in comparison to even normal cultivators, let alone Lex.

There were a few soldiers who looked extremely intimidating and had decent cultivations, but even those were in the minority. Most guards who stood around the room were in the Foundation realm, and even then Lex could tell they were far from outstanding. Any casual Foundation realm cultivator from Earth could suppress them one on one easily.

Although no one said so, Lex drew the conclusion that this country had a terrible cultivation heritage. It remained to be seen if this was the case in its neighboring countries as well, or just here. Suddenly a thought occurred to Lex: was he still in the Crystal realm? If he had to guess, he would say he wasn't as the ambient spirit energy was quite weak comparatively.

Then he began focusing on the conversations the people were having. The way in which they were conversing was extremely artificial, as they were discussing minute details about each ministry they oversaw. It was clear that, through their conversations, they were indirectly providing information to Lex about the various factors of the empire.

The most significant factor that Lex immediately realized was the military truly was lacking in this country. Due to excellent social services and economic support, scarcely was there anyone in the entire country who could not achieve a stable and successful life. In the scenario where everyone could easily achieve a comfortable life without much pressure, why would anyone be willing to endure the arduous life of a soldier? Only those who genuinely wanted to protect the country would take such a path.

Already he could tell this would be his greatest hurdle, as the martial incompetence of the country was more or less an established fact and known widely. After learning some of the details, Lex diverted his attention elsewhere. He was hoping they would have some geographic advantage, only to learn that most of the country consisted of plateaus or plains, as it was at the feet of a long mountain range inside one of the neighboring countries. While that provided a vast amount of fertile lands, there were few natural barriers except rivers, which was not really a problem for cultivators.

As time passed, and Lex learned more about this country, he realized that, without external intervention, this country was set to be a treasure chest, constantly raided and looted by external forces. He did not even need to spare a single brain cell to come up with countless examples of colonists who occupied rich fertile lands, all to loot and pillage them.

If anything, he could not understand why this country had not suffered such a disaster before, and was even allowed to grow to the level it had already reached. After all, it already had three neighbors who could invade their lands.

To sate his curiosity, he began listening to the guy discussing the general history of their land. Slowly and steadily, he got an overview of the entire situation and came to the conclusion that there should be no way for it to overcome this crisis under normal circumstances.

This country, which was called Ferigo, was a piece of juicy meat dangling in front of a group of hungry street dogs. The only possible redeeming factor was that the neighboring countries were not overwhelmingly powerful either, and had conflicts of their own to resolve. It was only comparative to Ferigo that they were more powerful.

Adorning a look of absolute calm, Lex closed his eyes and allowed his figure to project confidence to all the various ministers in the room. In his mind, he was devising various strategies on how to overcome the situation. A lot of how he behaved would depend on the representatives and their respective plans.

Previously, Lex used to form a few plans in which he would take advantage of people's psychological blind spots and manipulate them based on having them form assumptions. But now, due to how fast and the vast experience he had accumulated in handling people, he could form multilayered plans and various contingencies.

Suddenly opened his eyes and looked at an old man who was in charge of the personal guard for the King. The man looked like he had aged considerably, and though he stood firm in his post and exuded an aura of blood lust, it was easy to determine that he had taken the assassination of the previous King as a personal failure. According to Lex's analysis, the old man had not purposefully failed in his duty, but the enemy had just outmaneuvered him. He could still be trusted.

Using his spirit sense, Lex passed the old man a few orders. Surprise and hesitation painted his face when he heard his orders, attracting the attention of everyone in the room, but he did not voice any of his doubts. He simply bowed to Lex and quickly left the hall to carry out his orders.

Perhaps before he would have offered resistance and council, but he had lost a lot of confidence lately, and could not bring it in himself to disobey orders.

Lex once again closed his eyes and resumed planning. The envoys from the neighboring countries would arrive soon, and everyone was waiting on pins and needles for their arrival. If Lex had arrived a little earlier, he would never have gathered everyone to wait for the arrival of a mere delegation. It put them in a weaker position. But it was already too late for that. He would salvage the situation as best as he could. In the meantime, he was already compiling a comprehensive strategy for military reform.

A few more hours passed, and the sun was nearing the horizon. The sky was filled with hues of orange and yellow, forming a beautiful tapestry hanging over the city which was engulfed in a mood of despair. The dichotomy of the situation was absolutely tragic. All the ministers, who had been waiting all day now, looked irritated and miserable and allowed a sense of helpless frustration to fill them. It was clear that while they all were noble people, focused on the benefit of their nation, they had little to no experience facing real hardship.

The door to the hall opened, and a messenger swiftly approached Lex and passed him a simple scroll. After taking a look, Lex nodded to dismiss the messenger, then turned his attention back to the ministers.

"All of you, take a seat. Make yourselves comfortable."

Confusion and hesitation filled their eyes, as they looked at one another, trying to determine if anyone knew what was going on.

"That was not a request, that was an order," Lex said in a cold, firm tone. "I do not have time to elaborate on my plans, nor can I afford for a poor performance from you to compromise the outcome. So, for now, all of you must simply obey my orders instantly and without question. The time for you to use your intellect will come later. For now, all I require is obedience."

This was far from Lex's usual style of doing things, as he was usually very considerate of his underlings. But the way he saw it, being firm was not the same as mistreating his subordinates. Moreover, he did not have a comprehensive understanding of their personalities and so he could not include them in his plans. As such, their only role would be to serve as an audience.

Upon hearing Lex's command, and feeling his subtle aura of oppression, everyone obeyed and took a seat. But just sitting did not change the fact that they looked extremely tense, and a glance was enough to determine their true thoughts.

That was where Lex's various experiences came into play. In the Crystal realm, back when he was in the academy, he was first introduced to the complicated ways in which nobles and higher leveled cultivators used spiritual energy and aura to build and hold prestige.

In the way that mundane humans wore regal suits and dresses, and styled their hair, applied makeup and used fragrances to establish a persona for themselves, so too did cultivators use their additional capabilities to embellish their image.

A person's aura itself could have a 'scent' which other cultivators could sense. The flow of energy in a room could affect its inhabitants the way a breeze could affect people on a hot summer day. Each and everything played a role in establishing oneself. Lex normally did not need to think of such things, as his Host Attire would automatically do all of these when he presented himself as the Innkeeper. In fact, the Host Attire probably even took care of various such subtleties that Lex was not even aware of.

But currently the Host Attire could not help him. It was fortunate then that he had long been studying these things so that he could seamlessly merge into higher cultivator society if he ever needed to.